At the Water's Edge
by TheSynOfWolves
Summary: Two sisters of the Inuzuka Clan are put through the difficult trials to become ninjas. Their journey begins with the academy and progresses throughout their lives. Shikamaru x OC Sasuke x OC
1. Chapter 1

Sweat fell from her forhead as she felt her body coming to exhaustion.

"Again." A brash voice barked.

Her sea blue eyes looked over to her sister, who was on her hands and knees panting.

"Dad, we can't. Our chakra is practically depleted." The red haired female spoke, a frown creased her lips.

"You're both pathetic excuses as daughters of the Inuzuka."

Clentching her teeth together, the girl's nails dug into the dirt. "And you're..."

The large, spikey haired male narrowed his emerald eyes at his daughter. "I'm what, Nahoko?"

Nahoko's aqua eyes looked over to her panting sister who was now struggling to get up. "Nothing, father."

The Inuzuka male cleared his throat and looked over at his second daughter. "Get up, Sukie. You need to show the strength of the Inuzuka Clan."

The young girl looked up at her father and with shaky legs she began to slowly stand, but ended up falling back onto the ground.

"You both disappoint me. Sukie." His attention turned to his red and black haired daughter.

Nahoko began to slowly stand as she watched her father begin to walk over to Sukie.

"Leave her alone, father." Nahoko growled, putting her hands on her knees as her father snatched his youngest daughter up by the arm. "STAND."

Watery blue eyes looked up at the man who she had admired for so long.

"F-father. I can't. I-I'm too tired." She winced as the grip on her arm began to tighten.

"Ow! Father, please let go of me!" She begged the large man who pulled his hand back as the anger welled within his chest.

"I'll show you what happens when you're weak!" "FATHER STOP!" Nahoko's voice yelled as she raced towards her father and her sister.

The force she slammed into the large man caused him to loosen his grip which gave Nahoko the opportunity to grab Sukie's arm and pull her free.

As soon as she did, she suddenly found herself on the ground, the right side of her face stinging furiously. Her right hand rose to her cheek and placed it gently upon it.

Her aqua eyes watered with tears, but she didn't dare allow herself to cry. Glaring at her father, who was fuming as he began to walk back to the house in silence, she noticed the dirt beside her stir.

"Sis? Why did you do that?" The younger sister quietly said, tears falling from her eyes. Removing her hand, Nahoko winced as the cool air didn't have the desired effect on it that she wanted.

Despite the pain that still radiated throughout her cheek, Nahoko smiled gently at her sister. "Because I promised you I'd never let him hit you again and you know I keep my promises."

The girl before her stretched her lips in a thin line as she tried to stop the tears from falling.

"Are you okay?" Nahoko asked carefully, adjusting her exhausted body to gather her younger sister in her arms. Sukie sobbed quietly into her sister's shirt, wrapping her arms around Nahoko's body. The eldest gently rubbed her sister's back as she allowed her to cry it out.

Once Sukie was finished crying it out, Nahoko looked towards the house and grabbed her sister's hand to help her stand up. She, herself, was still a bit shaky on her legs, but she was able to keep her sister on her feet as well. "Come on. Let's go rest." Sukie sniffed softly and looked up to her sister. "T-to our place?" Nahoko nodded and smiled.

Dipping her feet into the cool water causing Nahoko to shiver slightly. "Ahhh, that feels. Amazing. After the day we've had."

Lowering her hand into the water, the female gathered a small bit of it in her hand and lifted the cool liquid to her cheek, which still slightly stung. Wincing slightly at the feeling of the coolness against her heated cheek.

Her eyes traveled to her and her sister's "special place". It was a large clearing with a rather good sized pond that ran into a small stream that lead to the south of the village. The clearing was surrounded by trees and not many people knew about this, except for Nahoko and Sukie. She and her sister had found this place when they were running from their father when he got unbearably angry one night. It had been their place ever since.

She sighed softly as she looked over to her sister, who was laying on her back staring at the sky.

"Nahoko.." Her soft voice spoke. "Hm?" The eldest answered, looking over to her sister. "Why..does father always yell at us..and get so angry at us?"

The question caused the red haired female to purse her lips and look down at her reflection in the water. Her cheek was red and slightly puffed up.

A soft sigh escaped her as she tried to come up with a reasonable explination, but there was none. There never was.

"..He thinks...we're weak. He thinks we'll never live up to his expectations of a true Inuzuka. It's..complicated. We're not weak, not at our age."

Her eyes looked from her reflection to her sister who was still staring at the sky.

"You're strong, Sukie. I'm strong. Together, we're even stronger."

Slowly Sukie's lips turned from a frown, upwards into a small smile. "We'll be amazing Kunoichis one day..won't we?" She asked, turning her head to look at her sister.

"We'll be some of the strongest in the village." Nahoko gave her sister a smile and nodded to reassure her.

The sun had been in the middle of the sky when they arrived, but now it slowly lowered behind the trees.

"Well, I guess..we better head home." Nahoko sighed, looking over at her sister, who had been fiddling with pieces of grass. Pushing on her hands to help her up, Nahoko walked over to her sister and offered her hand. "Come on."

Sukie's eyes widened slightly as she took the out stretched hand. "D-do we have to? Nahoko, I don't want to go home. I'm scared.." She whimpered. Squeezing Sukie's hand, Nahoko attempted to smile, but it ended up frowning slightly.

"..I...If you want to you can sleep in my room tonight. I won't let him touch you."

The shorter sister merely nodded and remained silent as they made their way back to their house. It was dark by the time they got home.

The Inuzuka household was rather large, considering their father was married to their mother, who was one of the bigger branches of the clan.

Breathing in a deep breath as they reached the front steps, Nahoko slipped her shoes off first as she slid open the door. The noise caught the attention to a woman who appeared in the hall just from the kitchen.

"Nahoko! Sukie! My goodness I was so worried! Where were you two?"

She raced to the two girls who were seemingly mirror images of herself. Crouching down she gathered the girls in her ams and hugged them both. Pulling back, bright blue eyes widened as she looked at Nahoko's cheek, which was still slightly swollen.

"Nahoko, what happened to your cheek?!" She gasped, using her hand to carefully turn the girl's head left and right.

The young girl frowned slightly and avoided eye contact with her. Her mother's eyes welled with tears as the realization came upon her.

"Your father.." "Where were you two? I expected you to follow me directly home after I left." The sharp, deep voice asked.

Both daughter's eyes looked upwards to gaze upon their father who was dressed in a long grey robe held together at his waist with a large sash.

"We w-" "They were just visiting their friends after training, Broshi." Their mother interupted as she stood to smile sweetly at her husband.

The emerald eyes of the male looked down at his daughters then to his wife.

"They should have told me where they were going. Do not do that again." He warned, turning away from them and making his way to the kitchen.

Once he had closed the door to the kitchen, the anxious woman turned back to her two girls. "Go get cleaned up, dinner is almost ready, okay? You two deserve a big dinner for your hard work!"

She bent down and gave each of them a kiss on their heads before returning to the kitchen quickly.

"Come on, Sukie." Nahoko said quietly, leading her sister up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Closing the door behind her, the eldest turned on the warm water and stuck the plug in the bath tub. Reaching for a bottle, she poured it into the water as she waited for her sister to undress for the bath.

As she pulled back up, the female noticed something on her sister's shoulder. It took her a moment to realize the discoloration on her sister's shoulder was a bruise.

"Sukie..where did you get that bruise on your shoulder?" The sister asked, moving closer as she moved her sister's hair to get a better look at the discolored skin.

"...No where." "..Father did it when I was...God Sukie..I'm so sorry." Her voice cracked slightly as she bit her bottom lip.

Quickly shying away from her sister's touch, Sukie's hand went to cover the mark, but it was far too late. "I..It's nothing! I swear. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Nahoko sighed softly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "No more. I'll get stronger and be able to protect you, Sukie." Determination shown brightly in her eyes as she looked at her sister.

"Never again."


	2. Chapter 2- New Beginnings

**Greetings everyone! I'm proud to present the second chapter in Nahoko and Sukie's lives! It's gonna be a wild ride and they've been through hell and back in their stories. I can't wait to bring it on down to ya! We're introducing new characters in this chapter! I do not own Naruto or any other characters aside from my OCs. That pleasure belongs to Masashi Kishimoto! Please enjoy.**

He was a lazy ninja. Never wanted to pick up a pencil in class and always slept. His name, was Shikamaru Nara. He had eyes so dark they were almost black and his ebony hair always put in a ponytail.

"You're staring again," a soft voice spoke. Blinking her eyes Nahoko turned her attention over to her sister who was staring back at her.

"Huh? Oh, no I wasn't. He's..just so lazy. He always freaking sleeps. How can someone sleep that much?"

A small huff escaped her as she tilted her head, her red hair falling over her shoulder. Nahoko kept her hair in a ponytail tied together with purple ribbon. A small smile creased the younger's lips.

"Alright guys, pay attention. Shikamaru. SHIKAMARU." Iruka sensei's voice yelled loudly.

At the same moment that Iruka yelled, someone threw a balled up piece of paper at the sleeping student.

Snorting as he was startled by the physical contact rather than the verbal, Shikamaru slowly rose from the desk. His eyes were drooped from the short nap he was able to take and a red hand print on his cheek from laying on it so long.

"Ah ha! You'll never be a ninja sleeping through class!" A boy from the back of the class laughed.

Narrowing her eyes at the boy who began to laugh at the Nara, Nahoko stood before her sister could grab her.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to laugh at others?" The defiance caught the boy off guard as he flinched from the harsh tone of the female.

Frowning at Nahoko, the young boy stood up as well. "Don't you dare..!" The boy growled, tossing a pencil at the girl.

Lifting her hand, Nahoko caught the pencil just as it was about to hit her chest.

"Perhaps you should learn some manners before you go running your mouth." Promptly turning around, the Inuzuka sat back down without giving a second glance behind her.

She felt the eerie silence being directed at her as she watched Iruka sensei stare at her a moment before continuing his lesson on chakra.

_ **Random Style Change** _

_Outside for Physical Training_

"Fifty-three, Fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-se-" Nahoko murmured quietly to herself as she kicked the large dummy shaped like a human. The red haired girl switched from her leg leg to her right leg as she kicked at the dummy continuously. 

"Yo...Nahoko, right?" A voice spoke up from behind her.

The Inuzuka girl stopped mid-kick and placed her foot on the ground. Turning her head, blue eyes gazed at the boy who had his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Yes. And you're Shikamaru."

The boy's lips were curved down slightly in a slightly, what seemed like embaressed, frown. "Yeah. I got a question for you."

Quirking her red brow slightly, the female allowed her body to turn and face fully towards him. A quick glance from her head to her toes, Shikamaru returned eye contact almost immediately. Nahoko wore a sky blue cut off shirt that, at the shoulders, were something similar to a tank top. Where skin would be showing, there were bandages that wrapped around her midsection. She wore a similar sky blue skirt that came down mid way on her thigh.

"Go ahead." Her calm voice spoke, eyes watching his every move.

"Why did you defend me? You had no reason to." He said, watching the girl lazily as he awaited a reply.

"You're right, I didn't, but I did anyways." The saphire eyed girl looked off to her left at an approaching figure.

The reply caused a grunt to escape Shikamaru's lips. "That didn't answer my question." He asked in an irritated tone.

A small figure finally stopped beside Nahoko. A small smile creased her lips before looking over to Shikamaru. "Uhm..Sis. I have.." Her eyes glanced nervously to the Nara then back to her sister who offered a soft look. It was a look that Shikamaru was rather shocked, although he didn't show it, Nahoko could conjure up such an expression. Usually whenever he would take glances in her direction, when he wasn't sleeping, she was stoic. Looking back to the Nara as he patiently awaited his answer, Nahoko finally parted her lips to respond."To answer your question..because I didn't like that boy making fun of you." The answer seemed to throw the boy off as she grabbed her sister's hand and went off in the opposite direction. The black-haired boy remained silent before sighing and tilting his head back to gaze at the sky. "What a drag."

The seasons seemed to pass by almost as quickly as they came. As the months came and go, each youth grew smarter, stronger, and older. Now, in front of the academy and under a large tree the graduates stood in preparation for their head bands to show they were truly a ninja.

Nahoko stood, proudly gazing at her sister as she walked up to the table to recieve her head band. ' _You've grown strong, Sukie. I can't wait to see what becomes of you in the future.'_ Soon after her sister was called, Nahoko was called to the table. She bowed politely to Iruka Sensei who smiled at her as she grabbed her head band. "You're officially a genin, Nahoko Inuzuka. Congratulations." The newly appointed genin gave her sensei a smile and walked back to her designated spot. Her smile faded as she stopped and turned to face her sensei along with the rest of the newly appointed genins. Turning her attention to those around her, she had memorized most of her class mates. Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Akimichi Choji, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Neji, Aburame Shino, and of course Nara Shikamaru. Her eyes followed her list of people in her head before stopping on the boy with the short yet spiky ponytail. He had always seemed to catch her attention and whenever he was teased, she felt the intense need to defend him. Nahoko was not sure where it came from, but it seemed to happen every time. Blinking her eyes a couple of times, her attention turned to her sister who stood beside her. She offered the younger a proud, yet soft smile. The genin was about to say something when the familiar voice of her instructor reached her.

"I want to congratulate all of you on a job well done in the past two years. You have learned a lot and I am confident that you all will make excellent shinobi." Iruka said, moving his hands animatedly. "Now, we have counted both your strengths and weakness and made a list composed of who your teams will be. You will each be put in a group of three who will be taught and lead by your jounin superiors." Suddenly as though on cue, five ninjas appeared in front of the table that stood in front of Iruka.

"I want you all to meet your Sensei. Hatake Kakashi." His hand pointed to a masked male who was dressed in the typical jounin vest, dark blue pants with a couple of pockets attached to his thigh and leg, and a dark blue under shirt that looked more like a jacket than anything. Nahoko eyed the jounin carefully. She had heard many of the villagers talking of this Kakashi, or the White Fang of the Leaf Village. She noticed how his head band was covering his left eye. What did he hide under it she wondered.

"Yuhi Kurenai." His hand gestured to a pale skinned, red eyed kunoichi. She was rather beautiful in her own way. Her hair was a dark grey color and she wore a kimono that only came slightly lower than her waist line. Her kimono looked as though it were bandaged on her body, and a red sleeve on her right hand. Both of her hands were bandaged and it seemed to pull her entire look together.

"Sarutobi Asuma." His hand now gestured towards a muscular, short, raven haired male that had a full, yet trimmed mutton chops that fell into a nice goatee. His eyes resembled that of an almond and a cigarette hung loosely at his lips. His attire resembled that of Kakashi's.

"Might Guy." Iruka sensei's hand now switched to a tall, lean man with /very/ fuzzy eye brows and a bowl cut. He wore a green jumpsuit under his vest and orange striped leg warmers. It looked kind of ridiculous to Nahoko. Before Iruka could introduce the last Jounin, Guy gave all of the students a thumbs up and offered a toothy smile that sparkled with a mighty intensity. "I want to congratulate all of you for your hard work and for showing just how strong the power of youth can be!" "Guy, could you be a little considerate to Mutsuhito?" Kakashi sighed audibly, his visible eye closing. "Right. Please, Iruka, continue."

The brown haired sensei sighed and pointed to the final male who stood patiently for his turn. "This is Hanari Mutsuhito." This male stood not too tall, yet not too short either. His hair was short in the back and long and fell around his cheeks, spiked, and blue. His hair was an ocean blue, and his eyes resembled that of a cloudy emerald green. His pupils were surrounded by ripples of jungle green which almost made his eyes look like waves. The male's attire was not like that of the rest of the male jounin. His white shirt was long sleeved and slightly baggy around his hands. His hands were bandaged and hung loosely at his sides. He wore the jounin vest and his pants were dark in color. Nodding his approval of his introducement, Mutsuhito offered a gentle smile to the rest of the genin, but remained silent.  
"I will now announce the teams." He listed the teams as Nahoko listened numbly, until she heard something that caught her attention. "Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto cheered and raised his hands into the air. "Uchiha Sasuke." The very mention of the last of the Uchiha clan caused Naruto to hand his head in disappointment. "Inuzuka Sukie." Nahoko stiffened visibly as she looked over to her blushing sister. She was half expecting to get on the same team as her sister, for her own protection, but unfortunately she wasn't and that was a problem. The eldest was so deep in thought that she did not notice who was picked as her sister's Sensei. It was going to be difficult situation considering her younger sister was all she had and she always protected her. Now she would have to put her faith in her sister's Sensei and her team mates. "Team 13: Inuzuka Nahoko." The mention of her name caused Nahoko to jolt to attention, her eyes staring intensely at Iruka. "Ochiai Sojuro." The name was vaguely familiar to her as she looked throughout the crowd for her newest male team mate. Finally, she spotted the blond haired male. His hair was long and tied into two low wrapped ponytails, both of which fell over his shoulders. His eyes were a milky orange, pupils slightly larger than average, giving the genin an 'innocent' look. His attire was simple, as compared to some. The male's grey shirt seemed to be torn at the shoulders and at the bottom, but that's merely how it was. His pants were slightly baggy, but were a light grey. He had brown straps around his upper thigh and lower legs. It gave him a rough-and-tough look.

"Shiomi Masami." Iruka listed finally. Nahoko immediately knew who that particular female was. She had a very strong dislike for the purple haired female who thought she should walk on a golden path everywhere she went. Her hair was long, to the mid of her back, and eyes that resembled the white eyes of the Hyuuga, but she was not in any way related to them. Nahoko knew her well and she loathed the fact that she had to be team mates with the bitchy genin. She wore a black, elbow length sleeved kimono with a tight, purple tank top underneath it. A purple sash was tied around her mid section, which held it all together. Her kimono slightly flared out at the bottom, giving her a slight 'tail'. Her legs were covered in bandages all the way up to her hip where dark colored leggings held themselves to cover her private areas. She seemed the perfect genin, except to Nahoko. "And your sensei will be...Hanari Mutsuhito." The Inuzuka met the eyes of her new sensei, who smiled sweetly at her. "That is all of the teams. Please meet with your team mates and your sensei. Congratulations to you all and remember to be the best ninjas of Konoha!" Iruka ended before bowing to them all.

Turning to her sister, she gave a small sigh and put both hands on her shoulders. "Sukie, you must promise me to keep safe. Please. Don't let your infatuation with Sasuke get in the way of your better judgement." She pulled her sister in for a big hug before offering her a small smile. "I-I will! I mean, I won't..I mean." "I know what you mean. I'll see you at home." Nahoko whispered, releasing her sister and watching her walk off to meet with her new team. A frustrated sigh escaped the red-haired genin. Now it was time to meet her team. Mutsuhito stood with his arms behind him and his eyes gazing over his new students. He saw the Inuzuka girl, Nahoko he noted, hug what he assumed was her sister. "Mutsuhito-Sensei!" A high pitched voice reached his ears. Turning his body to face his new student, Masami he noted, he noticed how straight she held herself upwards. "Yes. Hello Masami." "Sensei, I wanted to let you know that I am goign to have a problem with that Inuzuka girl and her stinky dog. I don't want to go home smelling like a dog and sweat!" Mutsuhito already knew she was going to be quite the hand full. "Mutsu-Sensei! I'm so psyched to be genin! When are we gonna start training?! When are we gonna go on our first mission? How strong are you? What jutsu do you specialize in? Oh Hi! You must be...Misa!" The purple haired beauty scrunched her nose to her hyper-active partner. "Don't call me that! My name is Masami. Make sure you learn it well. Also, if you keep blabbing your mouth that fast, it's going to fly off!" Misami sneered at the male who merely ignored her and turned his attention to the red head who was approaching them. "Misa is way easier to say..and cuter!" He chuckled, watching the Masami squirm under the pressure of being complimented. "Y-Yeah, well. ..Still don't call me that!" She hissed, trying to hide the faint blush that threatened to surface on her cheeks. Between the two speaking to one another, Nahoko had silently approached the group and began to notice key traits in her two team mates. One was hyper active, but somewhat smart from the way he put his words carefully into sentences to empasize certain aspects of training and jutsu typing. Her partner, Masami, was full of her self and an absolute pain. She would have to try hard to get along with this one, or her life would not be easy, she knew this. Mutsuhito smiled at his three genins. He was proud to have the three odd balls under his wing. "I believe that this will be an interesting journey for all of us. Such conflicting and interesting personalities already. It will be interesting to see how you all work together." He said with earnest. It caught the attention of all three genin. Nahoko merely nodded and crossed her arms. Sojuro grinned widely and scratched the back of his head embaressedly. Masami merely twirled a purple lock with her finger. "Please, head home and get some sleep. You are to awaken early tomorrow and be ready for your training. Meet me at the south pond on the west side of the village." "Hai, sensei!" They all said and quickly scattered. Mutsuhito's expression turned to stone as he watched his students walk to their family members and friends. "This has been an interesting turn of events."


End file.
